Energie Lab Howest

Pilot projects in South-West Flanders, allowing further progress. This enables work to begin on the infrastructure being developed at the Transfo site in Zwevegem thanks to the EU. This ensures that the project will not remain theoretical and model-based, but will focus on real-life applications. This approach is necessary given the relatively short timeframe of EMS DOE: for example, the realization of the smart microgrid at Transfo alone takes more than 3 years. Starting from scratch carries the risk of achieving insufficient results. Development is also continuing on the existing infrastructure at Kortrijk Weide. However, EMS DOE goes beyond merely building on the two pilot projects. EMS DOE functionally connects them through the development of an overarching EMS data architecture, thus laying the foundation for a broad rollout of EMS in South-West Flanders. And that is the true aim of the EMS DOE project. Indeed, this EMS data architecture is designed so that other neighborhoods and city buildings can be integrated. This makes EMS suddenly "feasible" and accessible for all 13 cities and municipalities in South-West Flanders. Within EMS DOE, the first public buildings will also be integrated as a test and demonstration. Moreover, EMS DOE must ensure the necessary standards (cf. OSLO and VLOCA), so that other smart cities in Flanders can adopt this approach: at the urban level and/or at the inter-municipal level. EMS DOE brings together the finest from South-West Flanders in a powerful coalition: on one hand, there are the cities leading in the field of Smart Cities, energy data management, and efforts in renewable energy and energy efficiency (Kortrijk and Harelbeke), the key actors within the pilot projects Transfo and Kortrijk Weide (Leiedal, City of Kortrijk, HoWest), and a knowledge partner that has developed extensive expertise in EMS through other research experience and offers a training program in Energy Management. EMS DOE will make a difference by developing four key outputs that we consider crucial for the transition to energy management via EMS within a smart city:

1. Developing a data architecture for an EMS for South-West Flanders: a blueprint, the data structure, determining the standards, etc. up to the development of a Proof of Concept (PoC).

2. Developing, testing, and implementing the POC will take place at 2 operational testbed sites: Kortrijk Weide and Transfo Zwevegem.

3. Developing smart algorithms, control strategies, including those based on AI.

4. Integration of a first set of public buildings into the EMS, in Harelbeke and Kortrijk, testing and implementing the EMS, and developing a business model for energy management of public buildings via EMS for further scaling.